The Nostalgia Diaries

Beautiful suicide

Chioma sighed like she had offended Aisha.

Aisha was still holding the handle of her room door just. In case Ma Kesem came out of her room at any moment, she would rush inside before she was caught talking to this lady.

Aisha tilted her head downwards a bit so the lady could speak. She noticed the lady had long locks of hair like hers.

"I'm sorry I couldn't make it to your performance. But I watched you perform on TV some months ago, and I'm really proud of you-" Chioma said.

Aisha fiddled her fingers on the door handle. She looked at the lady with a confused look. She figured the lady must have mistaken her for someone else. She pouted like she was trying to remember something. Then the woman said something that caught her attention.

"I know your mom... Mr. Williams has restricted you from seeing me, but if you ever need advice or need my help. You know where to find me, okay? " Chioma said with eloquence, and then looked at her watch.

"My mother?!" Aisha blurted out in confusion. She had so many questions. Maybe this lady actually knew her real mother. She thought.

The lady cleared her throat and nodded. "I have to go," She uttered and began walking to the elevator. She waved Aisha goodbye and pushed the elevator button repeatedly till it opened.

"Chioma!" Aisha cried out."Please wait. " She was full of questions and was keen to know about this lookalike the lady had mistaken her for. She thought of a way to get more information about this Mrs. Williams, the lady, had mentioned.

The lady looked at Aisha as she entered the elevator. "What?" She said loudly.

"My mom's contact. Do you still have it?" She asked.

The elevator doors began to close, but the lady quickly shouted. "I only reach out to Cathay through e-mail, but she's restricted me from seeing -"

The elevator doors shut close before the lady could finish speaking, and Aisha didn't see the lady again. At least she had gotten important information from her. She didn't want to believe this Cathay was her mother. But she was just mistaken to be Cathay's daughter because she looked like her. She was keen to meet this Chioma again so she could tell her more about her doppelganger or maybe her twin sister.

Aisha was sitting on a chair and staring at her reflection in the mirror in her hotel room for minutes, thinking about her encounter with Chioma and how she could meet her again.

Fatima was sitting on the bed reading a fashion magazine. She called Aisha's name, but she got no answer. "They have old magazines in this hotel, Aisha," She complained, sounding impressed.

Aisha didn't respond as she was lost in her thoughts.

Fatima wasn't sure if Aisha had heard her or maybe she had zoned out because of something Ma Kesem had told her. She walked up to Aisha and shouted. "Aisha!" She snapped her fingers in front of Aisha, but Aisha didn't answer her. She thunder-clapped her hands beside Aisha's right ear heavily.

Aisha jumped. She thought she heard thunder strike. "Who? Who? Who is it? What is it?" She said anxiously.

Fatima laughed loudly because Aisha reaction was hilarious. She stood in a slouched posture and rested her hand on the table. "Who? Who? Who? What are you? An owl, " Fatima whined.

Aisha frowned.

Fatima was still laughing. "Someone told me you sound more like an owl than a person,"
"Who?" Aisha asked.

Fatima laughed harder because Aisha had fallen for her joke. "You fell for it again. You zoned out. I called your name but you didn't answer. "

Aisha stood up and walked to the bed. She tied her hair in a bun at the back of her head and sat down on the bed.

Fatima walked and stood at the other side of the bed. "Did Ma Kesem say something mean to you? I know how she can be mean sometimes, but"

"No, no. It's nothing, really. I was thinking of something else, " Aisha said. She got tired when she was asked too many questions.

Fatima's eyes were still glued on Aisha. She suspected something was wrong or maybe Aisha was hiding something from her that she didn't want her to know. She remembered Aisha had lied about how she got the scar on her forearm to Ma Kesem so she wouldn't be worried. Aisha had told only her the truth about how she got it, and the story was dark.

Aisha caught Fatima still looking at her. "I'm fine."

"You don't look fine to me," Fatima said sharply.

Aisha rolled her head. "Alright, I'll tell you everything Ma Kesem told me as long as you quit staring at me like I'm the Mona Lisa."

That night, Aisha had a strange dream. First, she saw herself pointing a gun at a woman whose face she couldn't recognize then she saw her dad standing by a door then she saw her other self lying dead in a pool of her own blood on the floor and her other self standing close by, begging her not to shoot the woman. When she corked the gun and pulled the trigger. She woke up and panted heavily. She saw Fatima standing by the big window screen, looking outside.

Fatima had a serious look on her face.

Aisha wondered what Fatima was looking at outside this early morning. "Fatima!" She cried in worried tone.

Fatima looked at Aisha and pointed outside at the ground.

"What is it? Why are you standing there?" Aisha asked curiously.

"Someone just died," Fatima replied. Her voice sounded shallow and deep. "She committed suicide. Maybe she was drunk. " She was still looking outside as she spoke.

Aisha was surprised. "Who is it?" She asked, standing up from her bed.

"I don't know, gosh. They are plenty of people outside looking at her body, " Fatima said. She sounded irritated.

Aisha grew curious to see who had died. She squinted her eyes and stared outside .She couldn't see the lady's face clearly because she wasn't wearing her glasses but the lady was black and she had landed on a black car in front of the hotel. The lady looked very familiar. She didn't want to believe it was who she thought it was. "It can't be Chioma," She whispered to herself. "This can't be real," She said.

Fatima looked at Aisha like they themselves were even real.

Aisha ran out of the room to get a better look at the person outside.

There were so many people gathered around the car the lady had landed on. People took pictures of the lady's body while some chattered as they couldn't believe she had jumped from the hotel window. Ma Kesem, Aisha, and Fatima joined the crowd to see the body.

Aisha pushed her way through the crowd to get a closer look at the lady's face. She saw it was Chioma. The lady she had just met yesterday.

An ambulance arrived, and three medic officers took Chioma's body from the top of the car and carefully put in a stretcher. She was bleeding from her nose and her eyes while her mouth was open.

Aisha couldn't believe Chioma had taken her life. She was so jovial and full of life when she met her yesterday.

"This is sad. Really sad, " Ma Kesem said and wrapped her arms around Fatima. "She shouldn't have killed herself,"

Fatima looked at Ma Kesem and said in a high tone, "Maybe she was drunk," then paused and said in a low tone, "or maybe she was sad."

"Even happy people commit suicide, Fatima," Ma Kesem said.

Fatima pushed herself close into Ma Kesem's body and held her hand just to feel safe.

Aisha stared at the medic officers as they took Chioma's body into the back of the ambulance. She wanted to meet Chioma so badly and ask about Cathay Williams, but now she was dead. She made eye contact with Fatima. Fatima was sad while Ma Kesem looked so distraught. She turned and looked at a photographer holding a big camera.

The photographer stared at a picture he had taken and held it far from his eyes, admiring the shot he had taken of the lady's body. She looked like she was relaxing on the car with her legs crossed. The photographer smacked the picture with his finger and said aloud, "It's a beautiful suicide"